Passing of leading Cloughjordan businessman

The death took place on Sunday, September 12, of Leo Banaghan (Snr) of Cloughjordan, one of the most successful self-made businessmen in North Tipperary.

Leo, of Ard Aoibhinn, Cloughjordan, was born in 1934 to local couple Bernard and Josephine Banaghan and was one of four children, his three siblings sister, Marie and brothers Michael and Brian having predeceased him.

Leo was a man with a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit and was the founder in the early 1950s of Banaghan & Company Ltd, now the hugely successful importer and wholesale distributor of toys, games, gifts, stationery and office supplies based at Stereame in Nenagh.

A man of great vision and drive, he started out after leaving school selling typewriter ribbons and carbon paper, travelling around on his bicycle when conducting his business affairs.

He discovered he had a great knack for selling and, with the help of his younger brother Brian, they quickly expanded the business, creating the firm foundations for the large company that exists today on its very imposing site at Stereame.

Renowned as really hard grafter, he focused on growing the business over a half century before passing it on to the next generation. His success as a businessman are attributed to his commitment, his ability to think outside the box and be a risk taker.

Leo was a very personable man with a big personality, which were great attributes to have as a businessman. He possessed a great deal of charm and an ability to negotiate deals, qualities that attracted customers from all over the world in their droves.

Leo met a young Clare woman, Rita Doyle, at a dance in Queens Hotel in Ennis in the late 1950s and they later married and were blessed with five sons.

Leo’s role as a leading businessman fitted perfectly into his love of travel. His business trips in the UK, Europe and the Far East were sometimes as much about leisure as business and some of the trips could extend into weeks.

He also loved to holiday in Ireland in places like West Cork and Clare. One of his favourite destinations was Kilkee in County Clare where he and Rita had a second home and where they enjoyed many happy days with friends and family.

But at his core Leo was a proud Cloughjordan and Tipperary man. He was a keen supporter of his home hurling club Kilruane McDonaghs and the county team - one of his proudest moments being when his son Joe won an All Ireland Club Senior Hurling medal playing with the club in 1986 lining out at wing back.

Sadly Rita, described as “the light of his life” - his wife of six decades - died almost exactly three years before Leo, leaving a hole that nobody else could fill despite the love of his family, which included grandchildren and great grandchildren.

On Wednesday last after Requiem Mass in SS Michael’s and John’s Church in his beloved Cloughjordan, Leo’s remains were interred beside Rita in the adjoining cemetery.

Leo is survived by his sons Bernard, Joe, Colm, Leo and Gerard, grandchildren, great grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. May he rest in peace.